Act now to stop Utah’s attempt to rescue the coal industry

Coal is dirty. You know it. Everyone knows it.

Pollution from coal kills people and is killing our planet. This is precisely why the use of coal for producing energy is on a steady global decline, and why coal mining companies and coal-fired power plants are either closing or filing for bankruptcy protection.

Some in Utah, however, think they’ve found the way to rescue the coal industry. And they draw their inspiration from Nazi Germany, no less.

Yes, it’s true. After Hitler was cutoff from world oil supplies, German engineers found a way to make liquid fuels from a resource it had plenty of – coal. This is indeed how Hitler powered his entire war fleet during WWII.

And now, a small LLC based in Toole, Utah, Revolution Fuels, wants to use the same exact technology to build a coal-to-liquids fuel plant in Wellington, Utah, one that will process approximately 270,000 tons of coal per year to manufacture diesel fuel, jet fuel, and naptha solvent. It will also produce more than 160 tons of air pollutants and nearly 300,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually. You can read more about this in a January 2nd editorial of mine that ran in the SL Tribune or on yesterdays front page article. To read the specifics of the proposal, go to the Utah Division of Air Quality website.

This must be stopped. It’s not good for Utah’s air quality, and worse, it’s not good for our climate. Even further, it’s exactly the wrong direction for Utah’s economy. Every dollar invested in boom-and-bust dirty energy is a dollar that doesn’t get invested in clean energy or Utah’s future.

Help us protect the airshed for ALL Utahns while also working to reduce our carbon footprint. We’ve made it simple. We encourage you to personalize your letter (far more likely it will be read) but begin here. Say “NO” to coal and pollution and “YES” to clean air and a healthy planet.